To analyze the clinical characteristics of elderly patients with soft tissue sarcoma and explore the treatment strategy.

From January 2010 to December 2020, the clinical data of all elderly patients with soft tissue sarcoma who received surgical treatment in PLA 960th Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients' gender, age, tumor type, site of disease, maximum diameter of tumor, limb salvage, adjuvant treatment, recurrence and metastasis, disease-free survival time and overall survival time, and the different sites of disease were analyzed. Statistical analysis was carried between different tumor location groups. All patients' clinical characteristics and treatments were analyzed.

Sixty-three elderly patients with soft tissue sarcoma were included in this study, including 38 males (60.3%) and 25 females (39.7%). The ratio of male to female was 1.52∶1. The age of onset ranged from 60 to 93 years (mean 68.4±6.7 years). Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, liposarcoma and fibrosarcoma were the most common pathological types. The location of the disease: 40 cases of lower limbs, 12 cases of upper limbs, 11 cases of trunk. There was significant difference only in the maximum diameter of the tumor (F=3.196, P=0.048). Of 52 cases of limb soft tissue sarcoma, 43 cases were successfully preserved. The adjuvant treatment rate was 19.0% (12/63), and the recurrence and metastasis rate was 46.0% (29/63). The median disease-free survival time and median overall survival time were 87.5 months. During the follow-up of 3-108 months, 30 patients died due to tumor progression. There was no significant difference in survival rate between limb sal-vage and amputation patients with limb soft tissue sarcoma (χ²=3.724, P=0.054).

The elderly patients with soft tissue sarcoma have the characteristics of high pathological grade, high tumor load and poor prognosis. Limb salvage is the first choice for surgical treatment, and active adjuvant treatment is helpful to obtain better clinical efficacy.